We find the Fountain of Youth!

Prince Reindeer at Fountain of Youth

Time moves slowly here but the days tick away quickly. We have adopted a leisurely pace at the Fountain of Youth. Most mornings Ed is up at the crack of dawn while Ross enjoys a more relaxed awakening. We have breakfast or should we say brunch, watch a little TV, walk the dogs to the dog park (Mojo and Teddy have met a lot of other dogs and they can romp around a very large enclosure complete with places to climb, places to hide, places to chase, and places to dig), then meander down to the pool for 2 – 2 ½ hours of floating and sun basking.

The large pool and hot tub are adults only. There is another pool, and three hot tubs that allows children (not that there are lot of children here) but usually has activities going on. That is where they have the “lobster pot” – a pool filled with hot mineral waters straight from the earth – very hot (hence the name!).

Of course after a strenuous day of walking and floating it’s time for a sundown cocktail, then dinner and an evening of TV/reading/computer work (when we can get connectivity).

And the sunsets! Did we mention the sunsets?

We have taken a few trips to explore the area. One day we piled into the car and took off for El Centro. Had a little look around some of the small towns between FOY and El Centro – Niland, Calipatria, Brawley, and Slab City.

Niland and Calipatria are small towns that probably flourished when there was an armed forces base here. There is precious little else to bring people and keep them here! Mainly agricultural – some citrus, some dates, some vegetables but no industry per se that we could see. Brawley happens to be the confluence of two state highways and so there are some fast food places, gas stations, and an actual “downtown” (although many of the stores are boarded up and sitting empty).

Slab City is another thing completely!! Years ago an armed forces base was located here with buildings and the hustle and bustle you expect on a busy base.

After the base was closed the air force dismantled all the buildings etc and left only the cement slabs. Over the years the place fell into disarray and the desert began to reclaim its territory. That’s when the travelers found the place.

Today Slab City is filled with a community all its own. You can find the hippies, the entrepreneurs, the travelers, and the homeless. There is a large hill (Salvation Mountain) that has been completely covered with religious sayings, and paraphernalia; there are the requisite cars and trailers that are “decorated” with multiple geegaws; some businesses (solar panels, restaurants/cafes, and a convenience store); many people in travel trailers/5th wheels/motor homes just looking for a free place to camp; and some people trying to escape either reality or the government (or both). Like we say, an interesting spot.

El Centro is heavily populated with Mexican immigrants (legal and otherwise) so there are many businesses that cater to the Hispanic peoples. One such business is Cardenas, a Mexican supermarket. Imagine a huge Safeway store completely filled with Mexican foods. They also have a tortilla factory (both corn and flour), a grill area that cooks all manner of meats (chicken, beef, pork, lamb), and a complete deli. Great place to shop. Great seafood, huge selection of hot sauces, incredible bakery, and a vegetable market that has huge bins of jalapeno peppers/nopalitos/citrus fruits/spices/etc.

Some of the hot sauces at Cardenas

One pound packages of LARD for tamales and other low-fat treats!

Next door there is a great clothing shop featuring stock that has not sold elsewhere and is offered at a great deal – baby clothes for $1, men’s shirts for $2. coats for $5. Have a few armloads of stuff for Emily! Fun time!!

We explored the Borrego desert area when we met Donna and Norm Lynch, friends of ours from Penticton. They have been going to that area for years and acted as our guides, showing us places we would never have discovered. In one day we had a picnic in Hawk Valley amidst rocky and boulder strewn mountains, walked a ways through the Anza Borrego desert park, and drove past a part of a massive parcel of land that had metal sculptures all over the desert.

The owner knew of an artist that sculpted (or rather welded) metal and hired him to make a few pieces for his home. The gentleman was so impressed with the sculptures that he kept the artist around to make pieces to display along the highway. Wild horses racing across the desert, some being stalked and attacked by saber toothed tigers, prehistoric elephants, a massive eagle feeding her young a squirming snake, mountain sheep butting heads, and a gold panner seeking his fame and fortune while his horse patiently waits for him. Quite well done…….and there are paths throughout the desert so you can drive from one sculpture to another.

We have also explored the north end of the Salton Sea. Going through small towns like Bombay Beach (named because this is where air force jets opened their bomb bay doors in preparation to drop bombs on and around the nearby Chocolate Mountains during practice bombing raids), North Beach (a thriving community of 2900 people), Mecca (really the very southern tip of the Palm Springs region), Thermal (where the very best date shakes are made……we even bought a few pounds of dates for us to eat), Coachella, and Indio. Great place and has all the favourite shopping places we need. Coachella, Indio, La Quinta, and Palm Desert all blend together and eventually run into Palm Springs. Although we did find that living in Palm Desert seemed to have certain requirements attached.

While driving through the city it seemed that everything was behind gates and high walls, all cars were made in places other than North America (Audi, Rolls Royce, BMW, Mercedes), everyone dressed to the hilt even to go out for coffee, all pets had a lengthy pedigree, and the houses were all well over our budget!!!! Oh well we like the Okanagan too much to move here!!

The dogs are having a blast. As we have said the dog park is a good walk from our place but there is almost always a couple of dogs for our guys to smell/play. A few days ago (~ Jan 28 or so) we got to the park. There were a couple of dogs there already, but before long there was a total of 18 dogs – small, large, short hair, long hair, friendly, some not so much (even had a woman there with two dogs – one that hated all other dogs but loved people, and one who hated all humans but couldn’t stand other dogs)!

We leave this particular Paradise on Feb 15 for a short journey to a casino just outside Yuma. From there we will nip across the border to Algodones. We are looking at picking up some glasses for each of us. Then a couple of days in Quartzsite and then on to Lake Havasu.